Recently, we reported on AT&T's push to make it easier for iPhone & iPod touch users to connect to their Wi-Fi Hot Spots. One of our readers, Jamie Phelps, pointed out on his blog that AT&T's Wi-Fi service is not actually a "secure connection," as is advertised in various places on their website; we had overlooked this, and mistakenly reinforced the company's shaky claim in our post.

This brings to light an important point about wireless networks and security, however. It's really easy (and sadly all too common) to hop on to an available wireless signal in your office, at the hotel, or your favorite coffee spot and not even think twice about logging in to your e-mail or checking your bank balance.

What many users don't realize is even though the server you are connecting to (i.e. your bank's website) may employ several layers of security, the connection between your computer and the wireless access point is very likely to be unsecured. Anyone who is within range of your computer can trivially monitor the traffic being sent between your computer and the access point, allowing them to see what websites you may be visiting or capture details about other services that you may be connected to. This isn't because of some gaping vulnerability or software bug, it's just an inherent part of how wireless networks work.

So, what can you do to protect yourself? Read on for a list of simple steps you can take to ensure that your wireless connection is safe and secure.

Just as there are multiple ways to save Automator workflows, there are also multiple ways to save AppleScripts. In this how-to, I will show you ways in which you can save your AppleScripts for future use.

Read on for all the details.

After our little scare with the Mac Mini last week, the little boxen that could is quickly becoming my favorite computer (still can't wait to get one with Leopard on it). So seeing cool applications of it like this one thrills me to no end: Andrew sent us his writeup of putting a Mac Mini into a Corvette (complete with touchscreen monitor) as a music player.

The whole process looks pretty complicated to me-- the most I've done with my car stereo is install an old CD player, and by install I mean "watched my friend do it." But Andrew's writeup is really thorough, and he goes through everything from choosing components to creating a layout, to potential problems during installation, and what he plans to do next. Apparently the Mini is almost tailormade for car systems like this-- not only is there a special cable built to power it in the car, but there is even a special version of Front Row designed to be controlled from a touchscreen. Not everything worked well, however-- the Mini had a grounding problem, apparently, and Andrew had an issue with the Mini's volume setting reverting after a restart, but he was able to punch out an Applescript to fix it.

The end product looks great-- Andrew says he's still working on the mounts, but considering he's got a working touchscreen controlling a Mac Mini in his Corvette, that's good enough for me. Very nice.

TUAW reader Irice22 wrote "I accidentally switched over to iTunes Plus. How do I go back to the old format?" Here's how:

1. Sign into your iTunes account and select View My Account from the Store Menu.
   
2. Sign in once again (yes, I know! How annoying!) and click on Manage iTunes Plus.
   
3. Uncheck the box marked "Always show me iTunes Plus music and music videos when available" and click Save Changes.
   

You can always re-enable this option by following the same directions and checking the box rather than unchecking it.

Apple's "Apple Camp" is a series of workshops at retail stores intended for younger kids - aged 8 to 12 years - and their families. The schedule for 2007 has been made available, and all sessions will take place in July. Topics to be covered include making a podcast, iWeb and iPhoto, working with digital music and making a movie.

Apple describes just what "campers" should bring to class, as well as what they'll come away with. Sounds like a really fun time.

You've got a window open, any window. A Finder window, say, or in many of the built-in Apple apps like TextEdit. Ever wonder exactly which directory you're looking at? Here's a simple trick that may be new to you if you're a switcher.

See the name of your file or folder at the top of that OS X window? It usually has a small icon right next to it. Command-click the name or title in that title bar and OS X will show you the directory tree that leads down to the item you're looking at.

And if you click on a folder in that list? Finder automatically opens a new window showing that folder. Very convenient.

Today with so many of us using our digital cameras to shoot short video segments, it's especially easy to forget that we're dealing with videos and turn the camera on its side for a portrait orientation. Unfortunately, most video programs are not set up to handle portrait video. The video ends up displaying on its side. QuickTime Pro makes it easy to recover from this kind of shooting calamity and restore the orientation you intended. Here's a gallery showing you how.

TUAW's earlier post showed you how to create an overlay using transparency and sized to match your QuickTime video. In this, the second of two how-to galleries, you'll learn how to open your overlay in QuickTime Pro and merge it with your video to create a translucent bug in the corner of your movie. Be aware: you do need to upgrade QuickTime to "Pro" to take advantage of these powerful video-editing features.

You know those logos that appear in the corner of your TV, overlaying your TV shows? It isn't hard to create the same effect using an image editor like Photoshop and the hidden features of QuickTime Pro. In this, the first of two how-to galleries, you'll see how to prepare an overlay using your favorite photo editor. You need to make the overlay the same size as your destination video, and you need to take advantage of your editor's "alpha" transparency features to create a translucent logo that will overlay your video.

It turns out that setting up Apple TV and getting it to function couldn't be easier. Here's a quick run down of the steps involved.

1. Attach the power cord. Remove the plastic wrapping from the Apple TV unit and insert the power cord into its jack. It fits very snugly and you may need to apply pressure to get it to seat properly.

2. Attach your media cables. In the gallery below, I am using a component video cable (which shipped with my TV) and a separate analog audio connection (white/red). Apple TV supports HDMI and digital audio as well. Connect the cables to the jacks on the back of your Apple TV and to the jacks on your TV set.

3. Power on your Apple TV. Plug into a power source. The LED on your Apple TV will flash amber for a few moments and then change to a solid white light.

4. Select the proper video source. Power your TV on and select your Apple TV as its the video source.

5. Select a language. Apple TV prompts you to select from its lists of supported languages.

6. Select a network. Choose from a list of the detected wireless networks.

7. Make a note of the PIN code. Apple TV displays a 5 digit identifier that you need to use to connect to your unit from iTunes and set that computer as your main host for the Apple TV.

8. Go to iTunes on your computer. Select the Apple TV from the source list. iTunes prompts you for the 5 digit PIN. Enter this. iTunes now allows you to rename your Apple TV and it automatically begins to sync your data to the unit.

9. Wait. It takes some time for your unit to sync.

Once you've set a home computer and have begun to sync, you can begin to explore your Apple TV immediately. You may begin to use Apple TV as soon as any content arrives. You do not have to wait for the sync to finish.

Apple has a support article up today discussing how and in which order your iTunes Store credits get redeemed. Here's the run-down in a nutshell:

If you have a free song credit from, for example, a Coke or Pepsi promotion and you're buying a song, that credit gets used first. It doesn't matter what other credits or allowances you have in your account. Buy a song, use the song credit.

Gift certificates, prepaid cards and allowances form the second line of use. If you're buying an album (can't apply free song credits to albums), or if you've used up all your free song credits, these credits get used. If the cost of your items is less than your credits, you're done and dandy. If not, the balance moves up to your credit card.

Your credit card only gets charged after you've exhausted all these other kinds of credits, and only for the remaining balance after applying the free songs, certificates, cards and allowances to your purchase. The credit card is basically the last line of defense, picking up any extra billing at the end of the purchase.

About a month ago I swallowed the poison and picked up a Cingular BlackJack, a new Windows Mobile Smartphone (I know, I know). I had been looking to step up to some sort of a PDA phone so I can surf and keep on top of WIN/TUAW business without having a MacBook sewn to my head, and so far it's been working out well. The one thing I haven't been able to figure out yet is how to use this cutting-edge HSPDA phone (a new high-speed wireless data network) as a modem - until now.

While cruising Smartphone Thoughts (a good resource for other WinMo5 users in the audience) and their forums, I found this post at Mobility Today by David Ciccione that describes how to use a BlackBerry 3G Driver (of all things) to tether a BlackJack to a Mac for getting online. It isn't a simple process, but I just went through the paces and can confirm - it works.

Now before you run off and start tethering your BlackJack to your Mac all over the place, I want to add a few things to Mr. Ciccione's awesome work so everyone in our diverse audience knows what they're getting into. First off: if you don't have the proper data plan with Cingular, I have no idea if or how much they'll charge you per KB or MB for connecting, even if you're just testing this out. Try this at your own risk - we can't be responsible if you connect and start downloading movies from the iTunes Store, only to get a $300 bill for data next month. Call Cingular, like I did, before you goof around with this to make sure you have the right data plan. For what it's worth, I have the $20/month Smartphone unlimited data plan, which gets to fly under the radar of their ~$50 PDA data plan since it's a 'Smartphone' instead of a full-blown Pocket PC phone or data card for a notebook.

Continue reading after the jump for some add-on tips and gotchas to make this a smooth and worthwhile process.

OCD sufferers of the world unite! Do the little bits and bobs of dirt and fluffy things that grow in your keyboard annoy you? Are you tired of trying to q-tip between your keys without really getting the job done?

Fortunately for you, you're not alone. Website the mini Blog offers a great how-to today that guides you through the steps of getting your Apple keyboard shiny and clean and fluff-free.

Don't forget to take a picture of your keyboard before disassembling it. It will really help when you need to reattach all your keys.

To continue helping you get into the Halloween spirit, just in case the iTunes Halloween Essentials playlists aren't doing it for you, Nitrozac and Shaggy posted a how-to on making your own Mac O'Lanterns on Joy of Tech. They've posted a bunch of pics of some rather creative efforts to carve a number of Mac notables and general geek personalities. There's a pumpkin head Pogue, Ellen Feiss, a Woz O'Lantern and a truly frightening Steve Balmer amongst other classics like the Happy Mac O'Lantern. Maybe it's just me, but that Megan Morrone pumpkin looks an awful lot like a young Hillary Clinton.

If you've carved out your own creation, post a pic on Flickr or your other favorite photo sharing site and leave a link in the comments!

Thanks, Frank and the rest who sent this in!

A while ago we covered Quicksilver plugins for Gmail and Google Calendar, allowing you to send an email or create a new event (respectively) right from within Quicksilver's interface. If you aren't a Google Calendar user though, Quicksilver also offers the same kind of plugin for iCal. Somehow I lost this in my bloggable bookmarks, but last month Tim Gaden at Hawk Wings broke down the syntax for adding an event to iCal with this plugin, and it's really pretty simple. When entering text, the event is written like so:

• name of event - date and time
• name of todo - date and time
• !!! name of todo - date and time (exclamation points add priority. Two for 'important,' three for 'where's the panic button?!')

Tim's post says to type the date and time first, but I've found that this plugin also includes the date and time in the event/todo's title. However, it can still properly place the event if you simply swap the two pieces and type the name first, which allows you to keep more legible event names. Also, this plugin has the handy ability of specifying a calendar to add the new event/todo.

Here's an example of how to make this work in Quicksilver if you're a little confused. Obviously, you need to install the iCal plugin if you don't have it, and you can get it from QS's plugin preference pane. Here's how this breaks down, and I have the steps pictured above:

1. Invoke QS, press period to get a text entry pane, and type something like: "dinner and a movie - 9/30/06 6:00 pm" (sans quotes)
2. Tab over to the second pane where you must specify you want to turn this text into an iCal event. I type 'ic' to find an iCal event, and 'ict' for a todo, but as always with QS, YMMV
3. Tab over once more to have your choice of calendars, and press the right arrow key to get a drop down list of all your calendars, or simply start typing to find one of their names. Fortunately, since you've already chosen a specific action in the middle pane, only your calendars are listed in the third pane

That's it; if you're an appointment and todo junkie, this should take a sizable bite out of your daily mousing. The one catch so far is that it doesn't seem possible to add reminders through this method, but if you find a way, feel free to share with the class.